20150303 Prabhupāda Kathā

Following is a class given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami on 3rd March 2015 in Sri Mayapur Dham, Kolkatta, India.

[Kirtan: 0:00 – 22:06 Hare Krsna Mahamantra.]

nama om viṣṇu-pādāya kṛṣṇa-preṣṭhāyabhūtale 

śrīmate bhaktivedānta-svāmin iti nāmine

namas te sārasvate deve gaura-vāṇī-pracāriṇe 

nirviśeṣa-śūnyavādi-pāścātya-deśa-tāriṇe

jaya nitai gauranga jaya nitai gauranga

nitai gauranga nitai gauranga

nitai gaura sitalam nitai gaura sitalam

nitai gaura sitalam nitai gaura sitalam

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ

paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim

yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande

śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam

paramānandaṁ mādhavaṁ 

śrī caitanya iśvaram

hariḥ oṁ tat sat

[Jayapatākā Swami: 24:48 starts to speak.]

Jayapatākā Swami: So is there someone to repeat what I said? Do you hear that? Can you hear? If you can hear then repeat what I say. Very good. Yes. No. Very good.

So, last night, after 2:55 I couldn’t sleep. I was excited. I was thinking that the one thing, there are many things but at least there is this one thing which I did not tell in Srila Prabhupada Lila book. I only told more or less the things directly affecting me but Srila Prabhupada in the ten years we associated he told me many things. I wasn’t always the only person there. Others may have heard these things. I don’t know whether others wrote or what they wrote. I can only say from my perspective of what I heard. And my memory might not be perfect but things like what Srila Prabhupada said about himself, Srila Prabhupada’s concerns about ISKCON, Srila Prabhupada’ss comments about the Gaudiya Math. His comments on the history, as it unfolded before him. His comments on the previous acharyas and such things which I think you can tell to your friends maybe. So being in his association for so many years, he sometimes would open up and say those things. So should I reveal these things?

Audience: Haribol!

Jayapatākā Swami: I’ve never done it before.

Audience: Haribol!

Jayapatākā Swami: You won’t be frustrated. You want to hear Caitanya Lila? I’ll tell some other Caitanya Lila, maybe at the end of this. The cherry on the top.

Srila Prabhupada told how when he was a little boy, his father would take him to shopping and his father bought him a pistol, a toy pistol. He saw in the movie two pistols, there were two. He wanted two. One not enough. And then his father bought him two when he was four years old. And everyone would visit the house, his father would ask, please have Radharani bless my son. And he told how he would read the train schedule to Jagannatha Puri, he always wanted to go to Jagananath Puri. He would calculate if he leaves at this time, what time he’d arrive and how much it would cost. So, he was very eager to see Lord Jagannath. And then how he wanted to have his own Ratha Yatra, so he brought his father. His father purchased an old ratha yatra car and then they had it repainted to look brand new and then they had small deities of Jagannath, Baladev and Subadhra. And Srila Prabhupada and his friends, they was also a kirtan party. They would have their own Ratha Yatra when Srila Prabhupada was about six years old on Harrison Road. Harrison Road is the road that runs from the heart of bridge to the heart of station. It goes station, bridge, Kolkatta. Harrison Road is in Kolkatta, it’s been since renamed as Mahatma Gandhi Road.

So, his father would worship the deities. So he wanted also to worship the deities. But his father said when you get bigger, you have to have initiation. So, he gave him some clay deities, they were small Radha Krsna deities. And so he would watch his father do arati, he would watch the deities and bathe them.

So, when he entered the, when he finished high school, he entered into the Scottish Churches College, and he gave his deities to his younger sister. And she would worship them since then.

So, like this, he said that, the Scottish men were teachers, so he learned English from the Scottish. And Nitai Ji Subash Chandra Bose was in once class higher than him but in the same college. And, so all the youth then were into the freedom movement. They wanted to free India from the British and be a free nation.

So, one of his friends told him, come and see Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur but he didn’t have a good experience with the sadhus. He thought most sadhus were not very knowledgable. And he just had a bad opinion about sadhus. But this friend insisted that he come and meet Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Prabhupada. At that time he was staying in North Kolkatta, Ulta Danga Road which ISKCON has bought since then. Just a side information.

So, there Bhaktisiddhanta Prabhupada was sitting under a jackfruit tree. And he went to see him, and his opinion was completely different, he saw that well here was a very sincere person and on the first meeting. Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Prabhupada, he said that, since you know English, you should go to English speaking country and preach Krsna Consciousness there. Then he said that the what will they listen questions from a person from a dominated country, something like that, we are not a free country so why should they listen to us. And Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur smashed him, thatthis transcendental message is not subjected to any of this political questions. And, so they had some discussion, and Prabhupada said that he decided that if I take initiation, he is my guru, This one is different.

And so then now, India at that time everyone get married very very early, so he thought he wanted to marry a beautiful girl, and he suggested that to his father, a particular girl but his father didn’t agree. His father rather arranged for him to marry some plainer wife. And Prabhupada saw that in his father’s wisdom, he didn’t want me to get tied down to the family too much. So that I could be free later on. So, instead of marrying me to someone I would very attach too, I married to someone who is just so so okay. These are my words. So less beautiful.

Anyway, so, sometimes it would be just little things with Srila Prabhupada. He would say how his father had a cloth shop, having a cloth shop mice will  come and nibble the cloth, so in that way the cloth would be spoiled and you couldn’t sell it. So, everyday his father would leave a bowl of rice, so the mice ate that. (Devotee said so the rice ate that) What kind of rice/mice? Rice that eat mice.

So, he was saying that just by a little cup of rice, the mice would leave the cloth alone. So, he was say that when he was a child there were Hindu-Muslim riots, and he saw that people in the street were killing each other, and it was a muslim who was taking and protecting him. And he would say how it would be a horrible time and, then he said Gandhiji was not really a serious threat for the British, but mainly Netaji Subash Chandra Bose he was the real one who got the Indian independence because he made a deal with the Japanese, the Russians and the Germans, that the Indian army that was fighting for the British, they crossed over and they would be sent back by the Nazi forces to fight the British in India. So this was a big problem because one they couldn’t depend on the Indians in the battle. Two, if they came back to India and fought against the British that was another problem, so like that Srila Prabhupada was giving some comment.

Then he told how he was working as a general manager in some pharmaceutical company and how in De’s he made his own products. Then he moved to Allahabad. And he would regularly go and attend Bhaktisiddhanta’s class in Allahabad and Vrndavan. Om Visnupada Srila Bhatisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur was at that time his his  surrendered his surrendered disciple but he thought when I take initiation I should be fully purified, the perfect disciple, that’s why he was holding off in taking initiation. He held on for about ten years, and then someone told him, one of his godbrothers, that you can never achieve perfection without the mercy of your guru. So then he took initiation from Srila Bhatisiddhanta Saraswati Prabhupada. I saw the pharmacy that he had previously, I don’t know exactly where his residence was but he had said that the house was so designed that there was a guestroom in which he would have sannyasis Gaudiya sannyasis stay in, and they could enter and  exit through a doorway to the outside, without going to his house. So they have their privacy and he has his privacy as a grhastha but that house was specific and that room was specifically for the preachers. He would call out (53:20 unclear) mistakes.

So at that time Bhakti Rakha Sridhar Maharaja, he used to go frequently to his house and stayed in that room, and then they will go out and preach. So in this way he was always close to the preachers.

He told how one time that he was on a parikrama with Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Prabhupada, and they announced that they were taking somebody to such and such place, and whoever wanted they could come. And also Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur would give a class, and those who wanted could stay. So he was staying in the class, he thought I’ve gone for this parikrama many times but I can only hear his class this time.

So he was in the crowd sitting. Then someone came and talked to him. He looked to the side and Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati said, you don’t need to hear, you don’t need to hear. And he felt so good because he thought the guru recognised me. And the guru cares, whether I listen or not. So, he was telling us this story. Then I had a similar story but I failed. (GM chuckled.)

I agreed to go with Tamal Krsna Maharaja and Gargamuni to see Radha Kund and Giri-govardhana but Prabhupada’s class was going late so I was sitting listening to the class. I kept sending people in and they kept tapping me. I thought I should hear Prabhupada but Tamal Krsna sent message, C’mon hurry up! So I bowed down and went. That was the worst journey the worst journey I ever had. There was a fallen tree, there was a roadblock. There was potholes of rainwater from the previous night. The car broke down, I mean almost everything that could go wrong went wrong. I said why don’t we stay and listen to Prabhupada’s class. And everybody said, “yeah you are right.” But there we were, in the middle of Vraj, broken car, roadblock, this that. Neither could we reach Govardhan nor could we hear the class.

I may regret telling this but the truth is the truth and I failed.

So like that we had many tests, but some we failed. Prabhupada he told us, I think he told us, Go. It was a test but we failed.

And rewind back. We jumped back So I heard the second half (1:01:00) or second part) but not so clear, something about, it’s not clear in my mind, but the King of England  at that time, I think he said the name but I forgot the name, he came and visited in India. And all the school children were lining up on the road., and they were waving little flags and we saw the king goes by, he had a beard, we made a comment, that when some devotees were following Caturmasya, we would say you look like that king. That reminds me that during Caturmasya, why we all don’t grow our beard While the Gaudiyas do?

Prabhupada he was saying that if you do the fast, then it makes sense to grow a beard, you don’t  cut your nails, you don’t shave, you don’t eat certain things. But the Gaudiyas they don’t eat eggplants or something, big deal. You grow beard because you don’t eat eggplant so he said even if you grow beard you will do the full fast having shana (not sure: 1:04:00) and so on. I have very simple prasadam and in one year we were busy here with the project, so we thought well we could do the Caturmasya. And for three months, we took just kichauri with on banana leaves. In the fourth month, we ate out off the floor, and had our hands behind our back, like a cow would eat. Very humbly.

Have you ever done it? I couldn’t take the vrat, I have to breathe too. They said once you get up you can’t eat anymore. I don’t know who makes these rules but ah.

I once asked the pandit, why do we have these restrictions on Ekadasi. And he said well, there is no restrictions in the sastra, but the sastra also doesn’t say that you can eat.

Just , then all food is not mentioned in the sastra. All food that is not mentioned in the sastra is a bit extreme.

So now then we reported to Prabhupada at the end of the Damodara month. We had the beard, we were following the Caturmasya in the real way then Tamal Krsna walked up and he said Prabhupada said “Shave up.” The thing is I don’t really know if Prabhupada said, to shave up. Or it was Tamal Krsna’s brotherly rivalry. Anyway, it was not so important.

So, it’s already been an hour. What do you think, it’s too boring?

Audience: No! More!

Jayapatākā Swami: (unclear: 1:08:48)

Devotee: The devotees can go to the back, on the other side, because of the rain.

Jayapatākā Swami: There’s more place to sit on the other side, you’ll get wet here. It’s auspicious that the Ratha Yatra brought rain.

Audience: Haribol!

Jayapatākā Swami: Indra was happy with the yatra. There’s a place in the parikrama but not every party goes that way. It’s called Megechara. There was a kirtan party going on and suddenly a rain cloud came and started to rain on the kirtan party. And then Lord Caitanya lifted his karatalas, and played them, and the cloud went away.

Audience: Haribol! Gauranga!

Jayapatākā Swami: Gauranga!

Audience: Gauranga!

Jayapatākā Swami: I still have lots to tell.

Today morning was book distribution class. Co-directors meeting in Mayapur. Then I came late to the congregational award ceremony. And then we have the inauguration of the Ratha Yatra. And then class here. And have two more interviews, that I know about. They told me tomorrow is a hectic day.  

I should sleep nine hours.

[Pause 1:13:15 – 1:14:29]

Jayapatākā Swami: So conclusion, Lord Caitanya when he was just a child, he wanted to tell, to study , his father was a bit fearful that his older brother Vishvarup has taken sannyasa, so he was afraid that maybe Lord Caitanya would take sannyasa. He was known as Vishvambhar, or Nimai. So, he told Nimai that you don’t have to study anymore, just stay at home, I will take care of you. I’ll give you whatever you need but Lord Caitanya wanted to study. So, I don’t know did I tell the story here?

Audience: Haribol!

Jayapatākā Swami: What does that mean?

At the same time Lord Caitanya would not disobey his father, he followed the principles that you should obey your parents, but he wasn’t very happy, so he became very mischievous. And all night he would hang out with the mischievous boys and they would play different pranks on the grhastas, sometimes they would put some cloth over two of them and make the sound of a bull [make bull sound], they entered the garden and break down all the plants. The householder would come out ‘bo bo’, and they’d ran.

So, sometimes he would go, he was eight years old, he wanted to study. So he would sprinkle some water into the ear of a baby. It didn’t hurt the baby but the baby starts crying [cry like a baby wahhh], the mother comes running, trying to figure out what’s wrong. And so he was doing all these things.

At night, in those days people would use the out house, no attached bath. Everybody would see in the room, do I have an attached bath. No attached bath then out house. So, he would lock the door from the outside, so the grhasta would get up at night to answer nature’s call. “Hey who lock the door?” And you know, being in that situation where you have to go but there’s no where to go, is an undesirable situation.

So, this was how Lord Caitanya was passing his days. People were complaining to Jagannatha Misra, but he held his [unclear :1:21:24, brown/ground/braun]. He didn’t entertain any of them.

So, then Lord Caitanya sat on the claypots. In those days, ladies would cook on cook pots and no washing pots. How do you say it discardable. They cook and they throw. Good system right. No burned dhal and rice. Rub out the bottom.

So, but that place was considered impure. They would dig a ditch and throw the terracotta cooking ware. So that maybe the ants and other things. So, Lord Caitanya was golden colour, and the earthern pots had soot on the bottom. So, some of the soots came on his face on his garment, and he looks very beautiful, gold with black soot. His mother would say, “what are you doing sitting in this unclean place?” “You are a brahman boy, haven’t you learned that this is unclean?” He said, “I don’t go to school, how would I know?” [JS chucked.] “I don’t know what is clean, unclean, I don’t know my ABCs. Nothing.” “If you let me go to school, then I will learn all these.”

And then mother Saci says that “No no no you shouldn’t stay here.” “Bring my father. Let him take me out and go to school.” But then, Mother Saci grabbed hold of his hands and took him to the Ganges to bathe. So, she went in the water and bathed him. Meanwhile, Jagannatha Misra came down, at first he was angry, but the local neighbour friends tell him, “ Why don’t you let your son go to school?” Our sons our children we wish they would go we wish they would study but they just play around. You have a son, he wants to go, you should let him go. This is a very good fortune."

So then Jagannath Misra said, “He said it’s serious it’s time to give him uppanayanam. The sacred thread ceremony.” So Jagannath Misra said, you are all well-wishes. So,I will accept what you say and let him go to school.”

Haribol!

Audience: Haribol!

Jayapatākā Swami: Haribol!

Audience: Haribol!

Jayapatākā Swami: Haribol!

Audience: Haribol!

Jayapatākā Swami: Gauranga!

Audience: Gauranga!